Kraken acquire veteran forward from Stars for draft picks

As expected, the Dallas Stars have opened up additional salary cap space leading up to the offseason. According to a team announcement, the team has traded forward Mason Marchment to the Seattle Kraken for a 2026 third-round pick and Dallas’s 2025 fourth-round pick, which was previously sent to the New York Rangers and later acquired by the Kraken.

The trade is a beneficial arrangement for both teams. The Stars free up $4.5M in cap space, which was given to Matt Duchene earlier Thursday, while the Kraken add more goalscoring and physicality into their forward core.

Unfortunately for Dallas, trading Marchment without retaining salary doesn’t solve all of its financial issues. According to PuckPedia, the Stars have $4.95M in cap space and either need to re-sign or add four to five more forwards to carry a full roster.

If Dallas can trade defensemen Matt Dumba and Ilya Lyubushkin, without retaining any salary, it’ll have just under $12M in cap space, which would give it much more flexibility. Still, it’s hard to imagine a scenario in which the Stars’ roster doesn’t come out worse off compared to the one they finished their 2025 Stanley Cup playoff race with.

For Seattle, one team’s junk becomes another team’s treasure. Marchment has proven a capable 20-goal scorer over the last few years and can generate more than 100 hits in a season. The Kraken struggled in both areas during the 2024-25 season, finishing with five players recording 100 or more hits, and only four players scoring 20 or more goals.

The one interesting part of this trade by the Kraken is ascertaining where Marchment fits into the lineup. A natural winger, Marchment should expect to play in Seattle’s middle-six. Unfortunately, the team is already fairly crowded with wingers, given that Jaden Schwartz, Kaapo Kakko, Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, André Burakovsky and Eeli Tolvanen are all expected back next season.

At any rate, the team is excited to have him, as general manager Jason Botterill said, “I think Mason has a unique combination of size, skill and strength. He works well down in the corners and around the net and that’s an element we want to continue to add to our group here.”